Alleged victim in Quincy rape case killed in fiery crash

17-year-old from Woburn killed in Malden

The alleged victim in the statutory rape case against Quincy developer William O’Connell is dead.

Police told our news partners at the Patriot ledger that the 17-year-old woman from Woburn was the driver killed in a fiery early morning car crash in Malden on Tuesday.

A passenger, a 19-year-old woman from Woburn, survived the crash and is being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Malden Police Lt. Det. Marc Gatcomb said the crash occurred in a residential section of Malden around 3:30 a.m. The car struck granite curbing in front of a Medford Street home, then hit a set of concrete stairs, propelling the vehicle into the air and a sign pole, he said.

Gatcomb said speed was a factor in the crash. Police have no evidence to indicate drugs or alcohol was a factor, he said.

“It’s still actively under investigation,” Gatcomb said Wednesday morning. The accident is being investigated by Malden Police and the State Police accident reconstruction team.

O’Connell and a co-conspirator, Phyllis Capuano, 22, of Everett, were indicted last year on statutory rape charges connected to O’Connell’s interactions with the alleged victim in 2009.

O’Connell is also facing a cocaine trafficking charge connected to substances police found in his Marina Bay condominium. The condominium was raided after a search warrant was obtained based on statements the alleged rape victim made to investigators.

The teen was a key witness in the case against O’Connell. It is not yet clear what effect this will have on the case.

NewCenter 5 does not identify the victims of sex crimes, so the teen's name has been withheld from this story.

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